Chapter 31: Nostalgic Park

August 17.

Three days have passed since I called Himari.

I still haven’t made up with Mifuyu.

“Haa.”

I let out a sigh.

There is no particular meaning.

Everyone has a sigh.

There are times when everyone lets out a sigh for no reason at all.

Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The moment I let out a sigh, my phone rang.

On the display of my phone, it said Himari.

I pick up the phone.

“Himari? What’s wrong?”

“Yusei! I called Mifuyu at the park!”

Himari said to me.

“W-Why did you call Mifuyu to the park?”

The park is that park in the neighborhood of my house.

I used to play in that park when I was little.

With Himari and Mifuyu when I was a little kid.

“You know the reason for that, don’t you?”

…Yeah, I know.

I need to talk to Mifuyu.

I think she gave me a place to talk about it.

But why the here?

But why the park?

“It’s because I’m going to be part of the discussion, of course.”

Himari simply said so.

“N-no, as expected of…”

“As expected of what?”

For some reason, I thought to myself, I can’t say it back to Himari now.

“….No, it’s nothing.”

I reluctantly conceded.

“Yes!”

For some reason, Himari seemed to be happy.

“Uhm thank you.”

I’m sure she’s trying to help me and Mifuyu make up.

“Hmm? For what?”

Himari deliberately blurts it out.

” No, it’s nothing.”

I really should be thankful to her.

” I see!”

Himari hung up the phone after saying so.

Soon after that, the date and time were sent to me on the message app.

The date is tomorrow and the time is 1pm

Tomorrow, huh?

I have to make sure I’m prepared.

I don’t think the discussion with Mifuyu will be straightforward.

Right now, we’re both too busy looking out for each other.

In order to make up for it, both of us have to express our true feelings to each other.

The problem is how to get Mifuyu to speak her mind.

First of all, I am sure that Mifuyu will not speak frankly.

If that happens, force is the only way….

No, that would only make things even more awkward.

I don’t know what to do…..

I racked my brains to come up with a strategy.

This one doesn’t work, that one doesn’t work.

I come up with a plan and immediately reject it.

Thinking and thinking and thinking…

I woke up.

“Hmm? What time is it?”

I seem to have fallen asleep while thinking of a strategy.

With blurred vision, I look at the screen of my phone.

August 18, 12:26 a.m.

I froze when I saw it.

Oh no! I overslept!

There’s only a little more than half an hour left until the appointed time!

I hurriedly prepared myself and opened the front door with all my might.

Then I started running toward the park.

The time before I opened the front door was 12:40.

It would take me 25 minutes to get to the park from here on foot.

So there was no time for walking.

I ran, breathing hard.

I turned right at the corner.

Then I saw the park I had missed so much.

The rusty jungle gym from my childhood, the narrow sandbox that still exists today, and the slide that is now only as tall as I am.

Everything seemed the same, but then again, everything had changed.

I arrived at the park out of breath and they looked at me.

“W-Why is Yusei here…..”

I heard such a voice call out to me.

I dropped my hands from my knees and straightened my hips to look at the front of the park.

There I saw Mifuyu looking surprised and Himari raising her hand toward me.